SEOUL — South Korean prosecutors requested a 30-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk Yeol at the closing stages of his trial at the Seoul Central District Court. The request was based on allegations that in 2024 Yoon ordered drone flights over Pyongyang to escalate tensions with North Korea and create conditions for martial law at home.

Yoon is charged with benefiting an adversary and abusing his powers in connection with his December 2024 martial law declaration. A team of investigators led by special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk said Yoon and his top defense officials were responsible for alleged drone infiltrations into North Korea about two months before he imposed martial law. According to a statement, Cho's team claimed that Yoon tried to create a warlike situation between the Koreas while plotting to remove his political opponents and monopolize and extend his power.

Prosecutors are also seeking a 25-year prison term for Yoon's former defense minister Kim Yong Hyun, whom they say helped plan and mobilize forces for the martial law declaration. Yoon's lawyers denied the allegations and did not immediately comment on the requested prison term.

North Korea accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang to drop propaganda leaflets three times in October 2024, as tensions with North Korea increased. A Defense Ministry spokesperson said the ministry could not confirm whether the drone flight claims were true.

In February, the court sentenced Yoon to life in prison after finding him guilty of rebellion, a verdict both Yoon and prosecutors appealed. Prosecutors had sought a death sentence.

On December 3, 2024, Yoon declared martial law in a late-night televised address in which he criticized liberals for impeaching his top officials and cutting his government's budget bill. The decree lasted about six hours until lawmakers broke through a blockade of soldiers and police he had deployed to the National Assembly and voted to overturn it, forcing Yoon's Cabinet to lift the measure. The decree disrupted politics, high-level diplomacy, and financial markets.

Yoon was suspended from office on December 14, 2024, after being impeached by the liberal-led legislature, and was formally removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025. He was arrested in July 2025 and has been undergoing various criminal trials since.

Lee Jae Myung won an early presidential election in June 2025 and approved legislation to launch independent investigations into Yoon's martial law action and other criminal allegations involving him, his wife, and his associates.